Feds: NC sheriff and deputies targeted Latinos

A North Carolina sheriff's department systematically targeted Hispanics for traffic checks and other infringements, the US Justice Department ruled Tuesday after a two-year investigation.

Alamance County Sheriff's Office had an "egregious pattern" of profiling, which violated the Constitution and federal law, engaging in "discriminatory policing against Latinos," officials said. The sheriff's office would "explicitly instruct deputies to target Latinos with discriminatory traffic stops and other enforcement activities," said the justice department probe.

Thomas Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, said the sheriff's action had created distrust between the police and the community and harmed the reporting of crime and cooperation in criminal investigations.

As such, a study found "deputies were between four and 10 times more likely to stop Latino drivers than non-Latino drivers."

And once Hispanics are stopped in the eastern US state they face discriminatory checks on their migration status.More...